New Falco owner in person

Message

blinkey501 · #16 Post by **blinkey501** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 8:35 am

Aladinsaneuk wrote:Nod Tarquinius

The last batch had horrendous problems

I remember 20 plus pages on the old rsvr.net site

The last ones had problems with the foot not sat on the floor. This one looks good to me?
I have two of the bubseywoo stands. One is the later variant. I suppose with my mechanical know how I could sort it, but really not that bothered.
And also I built flatlander a sidestand from scratch without looking at the bubseywoo stand, and when we compared them after it looked identical.
Personally I think they are good. In fact if spiderwheels wants to sell his and fit a fireblade stand, I would be interested in buying it and swapping the VTR stand on Kerry's old bike.

spiderwheels · #17 Post by **spiderwheels** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 12:03 pm

blinkey501 wrote:Personally I think they are good. In fact if spiderwheels wants to sell his and fit a fireblade stand, I would be interested in buying it and swapping the VTR stand on Kerry's old bike.

I'm not sure if it is flimsy. But I just had a bad feeling about it when I was trying to see if I could lever enough of the bike's weight on it to turn the back wheel at a standstill.

It does seem a little upright.

I couldn't find a fireblade stand of the right year on eBay so I'll give the current one a bit longer. Shall I take a close up pic to confirm what it is?

I think it needs some setting up. It understeers like a bugger (or I'm just running in too hot - or just too scared to lean it). I went for a brief spin yesterday in the cold and really had to persuade it (or myself..) to turn round a roundabout and gently opening the throttle caused the back end to slide - no real drama just a bit weird as it didn't seem like I was going very fast.

Part of the trouble may be that I need a brain recalibration. The last two twins I owned were both slow and had to be worked hard. And before that a screaming 600 4 that always sounded like it was going fast. Now on the Falco 100 feels like about 30...

D-Rider · #18 Post by **D-Rider** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 1:42 pm

spiderwheels wrote: I think it needs some setting up. It understeers like a bugger (or I'm just running in too hot - or just too scared to lean it). I went for a brief spin yesterday in the cold and really had to persuade it (or myself..) to turn round a roundabout and gently opening the throttle caused the back end to slide - no real drama just a bit weird as it didn't seem like I was going very fast.

I'm not surprised about understeer looking at how little of the forks are showing above the top yoke.

3 rings showing is standard (but not very quick to turn).

My setup is 4 rings showing at the front and the rear shock (ohlins) at max ride height - and lightweight wheels too.
Keith (His Nibbs) has a similar setup - I think he has 5 rings showing at the front.

Has your shock got ride height adjustment?

Tyre choice also can have quite an effect - the OE-fit Mez3 s were atrocious in all respects including steering response.
Tyres will also affect the roundabout grip (I know I'm stating the obvious here)

spiderwheels · #19 Post by **spiderwheels** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 1:59 pm

It's running Dunlop Sportsmax.

It may also have something to do with the rear shock feeling like it has a reasonable amount of give in it when I sit on the seat (although I've not measured the sag) and the front seeming not to drop at all.

I've no idea if there is a ride height adjuster. I need to identify the shock. It's a Nitron but I'm not sure which one.

D-Rider · #20 Post by **D-Rider** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 2:11 pm

Yeah definitely a nitron but observation required to find out its capabilities & features.

Don't worry, you'll get it set up and it'll handle really nicely given that it is a biggish bike - just don't expect RS250 handling from it

spiderwheels · #21 Post by **spiderwheels** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 2:40 pm

D-Rider wrote:Yeah definitely a nitron but observation required to find out its capabilities & features.

Don't worry, you'll get it set up and it'll handle really nicely given that it is a biggish bike - just don't expect RS250 handling from it

I'll get some close up pics of the shock. I'm not expecting an RS250 but maybe a late 90's 600..

It would be nice to know what the spring rate is on the shock. I'm only 10 1/2 stone.

D-Rider · #22 Post by **D-Rider** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:43 pm

Hmmm - maybe a diet of pies is called for by the handling setup guide .....

spiderwheels · #23 Post by **spiderwheels** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:51 pm

D-Rider wrote:Hmmm - maybe a diet of pies is called for by the handling setup guide .....

Been there. Done that. It just gave me the squits

D-Rider · #24 Post by **D-Rider** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 4:34 pm

Ah well, that's a good start - one of the first adjustments you should make is to set the rider squits

Aladinsaneuk · #25 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 4:50 pm

Bet you are running at manual tyre pressures....

They only work with USA air

Try 36/42

D-Rider · #26 Post by **D-Rider** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 5:05 pm

Aladinsaneuk wrote:Bet you are running at manual tyre pressures....

They only work with USA air

Try 36/42

Well I guess it had to happen sometime (a bit like those monkeys and the works of Billy-S)

Good Call Pete - certainly low pressures would be another contributor

#27 Post by **mangocrazy** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 7:06 pm

Yes, checking the tyre pressures would be the first thing I'd do with those symptoms.

And as D-Rider says, definitely drop the forks through the yokes. I've got 5 rings showing above my top yoke and it steers beautifully. But I've also got Oz wheels and the rear ride height increased by quite a bit, so that helps a lot.

When you say Dunlop Sportmax, are they Roadsmarts, or a set of the original Sportmaxes? Roadsmarts are excellent tyres and have a very good blend of grip, handling and tyre life. The older Sportmaxes did have a reputation as a slow-steering tyre, I seem to recall.

fatboy · #28 Post by **fatboy** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 8:37 pm

Aaah, another racing whippett, same wight as meself. Think Im showing 4 rings over top yoke, will have to check that i daylight.
im running on a Sachs White Spring, both front and rear are just a little lively for us feather wieghts, just doing a Pedrosa works well for me !
I think some old badger did threaten to post up a tutorial from Griff at Aprilia Perfomance on suspension set up...
I hope we have not lost him to the cull.....

randomsquid · #29 Post by **randomsquid** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 9:25 pm

spiderwheels wrote:Now on the Falco 100 feels like about 30...

They tend to do that.
Mine had a tendency to understeer when I got it. It's showing three rings on the front now, it was two when I got it. Also the back is now about ten mm higher, I'd call it neutral which suits me fine.

Another thing to consider is that my shock linkages were getting sticky at 20k miles, is your arse end going up and down smoothly?

randomsquid · #30 Post by **randomsquid** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 9:25 pm

MartDude wrote:
randomsquid wrote:I've also got a flaky lacquer thing on the back of the tank, not overly fussed about it.
These might help

Look good, lend us a pair to try...

RiderSite.com - Motorcycle Forums

New Falco owner in person

Re: New Falco owner in person